Saturday, August 17, 2013

This week we're looking at Hitmonchan & Hitmonlee 2.0 with the Fighting fellas from Generation 5's Black & White games. This is a real marker for the nostalgia seeking attempts to have similarities to the original 150 in the newest generation. The question that comes to mind whenever they're compared? Does it work?

capital punishment [kap-it-uhl-puhn-ish-ment]noun
1. Punishment by death for a crime; death penalty.

EX. Ya'll remember VG Cats? I think that anyone who stands in the way of producing new comics should be a victim of capital punishment. Or a good scalding. On this Pikachu, execution... it's not very effective.

By this point, we're all mega-excited for the mega-release of mega-Pokémon X & Y coming out this Fall on the Nintendo 3DS. My question is, knowing what we know, what're you guys most excited about with the 6th Generation of Pokémon games?

On a related note, since I was kind of just spouting off LoL speak, what's the deal with the champion release schedule? I've been waiting to buy and play Lucien for over a month. Each Tuesday, I sign in, hoping to see an update and hoping to download a new character/skin. I have gotten none.

Friday, August 16, 2013

space aids [spehys-ehydz]noun
1. League of Legends Slang. Malazahar's E ability, Malefic Visions, that deals magic damage over a period of four second and if it kills the afflicted target, spreads to the nearest enemy target available, repeating the process until either an afflicted target doesn't die or there are no more targets in range of a dying afflicted target, and gaining Malazahar mana.
2. AIDS from or acquired in space.

EX. Malazahar is my favorite mid character. He is the first character I ever achieved a PENTAKILL with in League of Legends. This is thanks, mostly, to his incredibly powerful E finishing off target after target in a team fight with space aids, and the rest of his powerful kit. He is still one of my best champs and, thanks to NuFu, he was one of the first champs recommended to me.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

state of affairs [stehyt-uhv-uh-fehrs]noun
1. The general situation, condition, or circumstances of a things/things.

EX. This rambling state of affairs probably won't change the world, but it certainly gotten my attention.Something has happened to Jon Tron. I don't know if it's good or bad, but it is certainly beautiful. Just listen to that singing...

Do you love Hayao Miyzaki, pixie girls, and Adventure Time? Have you ever wondered what would happen if Cartoon Hangover, Frederator's too hot for TV alternate alias and makers of Pendleton Ward's (Adventure Time) Bravest Warriors, animated it and began putting out the adventure of a derpy girl named Bee who stumbles upon a Puppycat that is more than he seems? This is the coolest, weirdest, and whimsiest thing I've seen in a while on youtube and I encourage everyone to check this out and share it. ASAP.

EX. Seriously, the animal/enemy AI has no sense of self-preservation in Skyrim. They see a dragon? They're gonna fight it. They see a dragonborn badass who just killed said dragon? They're gonna fight it. Just once I'd like to see somebody run after you display your badassery. If I beat a dragon to death with my fists, you should probably assume you don't want what I'm gonna dish out.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

merchant [mur-chent]noun
1. Elder Scrolls Series. While sometimes they are individuals you purchase commodities and crafting items, most of the time you use them as places to dump surplus loot in exchange for gold, despite the fact that it is inconceivable that they can manage to sell off their inventory.

EX. I think all good Skyrim players try to balance the following process: picking up loot from containers (including the dozens of corpses you encounter during your average adventure) so that you can get the most gold per pound of weight carried, even going so far to use magical items/perks to increase carrying weight, then taking that loot to several merchants in order to get them to buy as much of your useless gear as possible so you basically bankrupt them (I often buy crafting items from them so that I can sell them useless stuff), and then repeat the process ad nauseum.

Pro Tip #3,105: Make sure to pick up arrows that are worth any amount of gold. They have no weight, so you can carry a practically limitless amount, are always useful (archery has and will continue to be broken in the Elder Scrolls series), and are often worth a good chunk of change.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Mega evolutions? MEGA evolutions...? MEGA EVOLUTION?!? What is- what am I- what even- what do you even do?!

There hasn't been a big shake-up in the Pokémon scene in a while, but Pokémon X & Y are taking big risks with inclusions like: horde mode, a new Pokémon type, since Fairy is the first new type since they added Steel and Dark in Gen II, a more proactive inclusion of EV training in the game, and a simultaneous world-wide release of both games in all regions. But today's news isn't just big... IT'S MEGA!

That's just MegaMewtwo fighting MegaLucario. Nothing badass to be seen here or in the trailers linked at the top of the article.

So here is the skinny; certain Pokémon, including Kangaskhan, Mewtwo, Ampharos, Blaziken (pictured above in it's Mega Evolution form), Mawile, Absol, Lucario and, hopefully, if there is an Arceus, many more to come. They achieve their forms by holding a special hold-item and transform during battle, changing their stats, types, abilities, etc. This is a welcome addition to the games as it is one of the biggest change-ups in years.

Let's see what I think... (we're gonna skip the new Mewtwo form since I talked about it here and here).

And, for those of you confused, NuFu is the clan that me and my gamer friends have been rocking for a few years and, over the years, we've developed a lot of in-jokes, catch phrases, and observations that help us bond. I hope by sharing a few examples of this sillyness I can document the fraternity we've found in gaming.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

sport [sport]noun1. Anathleticactivityrequiringskillorphysicalprowess, ofacompetitivenature, such asracing,baseball,tennis,golf,bowling,wrestling,boxing,hunting,fishing, competitive gaming etc.EX. eSports are still sports. I've had to make the argument several times that competitive gaming is as much a sport as any other or, at the very least, is as much a sport as darts, bowling, etc. People underestimate the finger agility, hand-eye coordination, and snap decision making that is required to be good at competitive video games.Furthermore, and this is hardly in debate, the amount of knowledge, skill, and cooperation needed to perform, especially at more competitive levels, has a lot of depth. In a game, like League of Legends, where you're juggling your knowledge of all the characters, your inventory of items, paying attention to the map, completing objectives, and keeping your opponents in check, and so much more, you have to be focused to overcome your opponents. Much like any sport, one big play can change the momentum of the game and set your team on the path for victory. With so many objectives to be accomplished and maintained, the gameplay is constantly shifting from early to mid to late game with various phases, strategies, and a deep metagame as people attempt to find the most efficient ways to outplay the competition.League of Legends is my preferred poison, as of late, for blowing away hours of times with friends in the quest for success. The fact that the US government has acknowledged my preferred game as a sport by granting an athletic VISA to a pro-player is somewhat validating that I'm not "merely playing a game" no more than any traditional sport is "merely playing a game" (though I won't argue those aren't more physically involved).

So, I've talked about Mega-Evolutions, which seem to open up even more possibilities for Pokémon from earlier generations getting a leg-up in battle but, for the subject of today's Pokémon of the Week article, I want to see pre-evolutions and demands evolutions for these two beetle Pokémon, that represent the strongest inspiration for the franchise, Pinsir and Heracross.